1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable urinal excellent in its ease of use for men and women, and more particularly to a portable urinal provided with a mouth element so located as to cover the genitourinary area of the user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-28240, a conventional portable urinal comprises a waterproof urine-storage bag provided with a pouch filled with powder of water-absorbing material, the pouch being constructed of water-soluble films. In such a conventional portable urinal, when the powder of the water-absorbing agent filled in the pouch is brought into contact with urine, the powder absorbs the urine to form a gel.
As described above, in the conventional portable urinal, since the pouches are constructed of water-soluble films, the conventional portable urinal suffers from the following disadvantages:
(a) since the films of the pouches are easily soluble in water, i.e., very sensitive to the moisture in the air, the moisture should be removed from the air as much as possible during the process of packaging the water-absorbing agent in the pouch. In case there is too much moisture in the air during the above process, the films of the pouches adhere to each other and/or to packaging machines to thereby lower the packaging efficiency of the process, which results in a poor yield of the product;
(b) a stock of the water-soluble film for the pouches must be stored in a dehumidifying room to prevent the films from being subjected to the moisture;
(c) a stock of the pouches filled with the water-absorbing agent also must be stored in the dehumidifying room to prevent the pouches from being subjected to the moisture; and
(d) in shipping the product during the rainy season, the product must be double-packaged in a careful manner.